Bahrain ATC was once the best by far in the Gulf. However in recent years standards have changed. BAH ATC regrettably is no longer up to the job, traffic has expanded but ATC has not grown with it. A recent busy arrival proves the point with the approach controller admitting on air that he was not up to the task. This is not news but a valuable admission none the less. Something of a first for this part of the world and a welcome acknowledgment
that something needs to be done and soon before a serious incident occurs. The current 'Wave' schedule by GF has not helped putting a strain on the entire infrastructure unable to cope with increased traffic volumes. Time to get our heads out of the sand and make some changes? Gf cannot walk away from their responsibility; Chief Pilots etc must speak up. Merely telling FD crew to maintain a sense of humour and patience frankly is so much hog wash. Approaches in particular are unnecessarily long, poorly planned and a disaster waiting to happen. Good god if the same rules were followed in LHR as in BAH traffic would be backed up to NY waiting to land. ATC controllers are not to blame they are, judging by current performance, undertrained, poorly resourced and therefore inadequate. Must we suffer another tragedy before action is taken? Come on ATC speak up.